Kapunan: VP Duterte will be worst witness in her impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines — While she hopes that Vice President Sara Duterte will still show up for her impeachment trial, counsel for the prosecution Lorna Kapunan does not expect this to happen since the country’s second-highest official will be the worst witness in her own case.

Kapunan, in a press briefing on Friday at the Batasang Pambansa complex, was asked if she expects the defense panel to put Duterte on the witness stand, given that she has yearned to cross-examine the vice president.

Duterte’s trial has been on a break since October 13, and will resume on November 9 with the defense presenting evidence to dispute Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, or the allegation that she has unexplained wealth and that she failed to declare it in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

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“I don’t think so, I hope so, I’ve challenged her, I keep saying I hope she comes because I want to cross-examine her,” Kapunan said.  “And I think — I think so this is pure speculation — that if the vice president does appear in the impeachment court, she will be the best evidence against herself: her demeanor, the way she answers,” Kapunan said.

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“(It is) not only risky, but it’s also suicidal because she will be doing hara-kiri; she is her worst witness.  It’s suicidal if she appears, and if she reacts the way she is reacting now, the way her demeanor is when she talks about impeachment court, when she talks about prosecution witnesses and evidence,” she added.

READ: Queen Sara? Prosec eyes Duterte as ‘pawns’ don’t know how CF was used

When pressed to elaborate, Kapunan said that Duterte’s statements against prosecutors and even senator-judges would show that the vice president is not fit to hold office — and therefore, it would supposedly be detrimental for her case if she appears.

“You can see her temper; you can see that she is capable of hiring assassins P5,000 each to kill 15 prosecutors or senator-judges.  That is her attitude, and that is why the people want to see where is the real vice president?  Are all these things being shown by the prosecutors, merely invented or a result of character assassination only?” she said.

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“Is she fit to continue as such and is she fit to run for the highest office, president of this country?  That’s what impeachment is all about: it is an accountability mechanism […] we are not weaponizing the evidence against the vice president, we are just in the prosecution ensuring that the Constitution is safeguarded and that public office will remain a public trust,” she added.

Kapunan explained that when former Chief Justice Renato Corona was being tried before a previous edition of the Senate Impeachment Court, senator-judges then were not set on handing a guilty verdict against the ex-Supreme Court head.

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However, Kapunan noted that when Corona appeared before the court — against the advice of his lawyers — the tide swung in favor of the prosecution.

“We’ve seen this happen in the Chief Justice Corona case when the defense counsel advised Chief Justice Corona not to appear.  As it turns out, he defied them, he felt that he wanted to appear, so he appeared.  And I think that turned the tide,” Kapunan said.

“If we look back at the records of the CJ impeachment court, before the CJ himself appeared, CJ Corona, it was more or less balanced for conviction and acquittal.  But after his appearance — and this is based on interviews of the senator-judges then — it was the testimony, his demeanor in front of the impeachment court, that turned the tide against him,” she added.

Duterte has yet to appear before the Senate Impeachment Court, with her only appearance at the Senate on July 7, when she met with members of her legal team.  Although a trial followed later that day, Duterte did not attend.

READ: Sara Duterte won’t attend impeachment trial despite being at Senate

Several personalities have urged Duterte to attend and personally answer the issues hurled against her.  Last September 4, when witnesses were pointing to Duterte as the person who knew how confidential funds in her offices were spent, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. said it might be time to ask the Senate Impeachment Court to issue a subpoena against the vice president.

Abante said that instead of calling for other non-impeachable officers to attend the impeachment trial, Duterte herself should be summoned and explain what happened to the confidential funds.

The Manila solon made the same call last August, saying that Duterte should pity her staffers who are finding it difficult to address issues that she is supposedly knowledgeable about.

READ: Abante tells Sara Duterte: ‘Pity your staff, show up’

The prosecution panel originally listed four charges in its Articles of Impeachment against Duterte, but last October 13 — before trial adjourned for a break — lead public prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro manifested that they are withdrawing three of four articles, leaving Article II as the lone case.

Luistro later on admitted that they may have done things differently — referring to the withdrawal of the three articles — had Duterte shown interest in her trial.

However, Luistro noted that the issues raised against Duterte are not new, being around since 2024, but she has yet to offer a clear explanation to dispute the allegations.

READ: Luistro: Things might be different if Duterte showed interest in trial

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With the withdrawal of the articles, Duterte’s legal team is only required to mount a defense for Article II.  If the Senate Impeachment Court convicts Duterte, she will be removed from office and may be permanently disqualified from holding public office. /ms